What was supposed to be a party celebrating the return of "Oilers" to "ice" has now been scuttled in favour of a party celebrating a "lockout" and the continued heartbreak of hockey fans everywhere. But there are a handful of reasons to attend which we will discuss after the jump.

It may seem counter intuitive to head down to the Pint Downtown on what should be opening weekend of the NHL season to mark the occasion of absolutely nothing happening in the talks between the NHL and NHLPA. "Why should I go down there when I can sit at home and be perfectly miserable at home?" might go the thinking.

Never one to let our favourite sport dying a slow death of a thousand cuts go unnoticed, we have cooked up a party with some cool stuff happening and here is why you should attend.

REASON 1: ITS FOR CHARITY

Part of the contract that the Nation Network has signed with the Pint Canada involves raising money for an awesome charity Earth Group. At this year's draft party back in July, not only did we all have such a good time that a stranger in the Pint remarked aloud "man the Oilers fans here tonight are even more crazy than usual" we also raised over $2,500 for Earth Group.

They are then able to use this money to feed 10,000 children. You read that right - $2,500 in the hands of this fantastic organization can feed almost half of the population of Spruce Grove.

This type of money needs to be raised again and again and again so we will be damned if we aren't going to continue to try even if there is a lockout.

REASON 2: THERE IS MORE GEAR

At the Draft Party we released 100 Nation Tees with the proceeds going to the Earth Group. Those that don't sell are placed in the NationGear Vault in Wanye Manor to be released for sale after they have appreciated astronomically in value. Don't want to spend $4000 on a tee shirt that will be years out of date? This is your chance.

For $20 you can get a Nation Lockout Tee Shirt, a $25 Oodle Noodle Gift Certificate and a GC to the Pint as well. Oh and Nation Stickers if you are in the market. That's a quadruple helping of Winning Pie if ever there was one.

REASON 3: THE MEDIA WILL BE THERE

Despite all the dire warnings on twitter from people threatening to buy 23% less Oilers related merchandise for the next three seasons when the game resumes - there really isn't much of an organized response to the lockout on the part of the fans. We aren't in the camp of either the NHL or the NHLPA but think that us average Joes are the only people getting dicked around here.

So the machine at Nation HQ has arranged for some of the mainstream media to be outside the Pint Downtown at 6 PM on Friday looking to cover the story of frustrated hockey fans protesting the lockout. Whether or not anyone actually shows up to talk to them is an entirely different matter.

So if you want to have your voice heard ALL THE WAY IN NYC BY THOSE RICH FAT CATS - you are probably screwed. If you want Edmonton media to cover a busy protest that is serving drinks after - this is your chance. You can have your own press conference on the steps of the Pint Downtown.

*whistles so loudly the lockout ends*

REASON 4: OILERSNATION ALWAYS PARTIES

Ironically the lockout is going to provide Oilers fans with a far less heartbreaking October-December than we have been subjected to these past 5 years. We have partied our way through a 3 year tour of duty at the bottom of the league - why not party when the Oil are looking like a lock to go undefeated through Christmas 2012?

Exactly.

REASON 5: THE PINT STILL KICKS ASS

Even though hockey is on the LTIR that doesn't mean that we can't have fun. The Pint is still filled with babes, the booze flows like water at a garden watering party and they have a new mascot shown above wittily named Pinty McBeaverton by Nation Readers.

So if you need a reason to get up off the couch and go meet a gigantic beaver this is it.

TO SUMMARIZE

Lockout protest at 6 PM sharp, Friday October 12th at the Pint Downtown in Edmonton. Come one come all!

The Horcov article was a comedy/parody post meant to add some levity to this extended offseason. It struck the wrong chord with some and for that I apologize. As the editor of the site it's my responsibility to oversee the content and I didn't appropriately anticipate the reception to some aspects of the post.

you never messed up (well a little) but now you have really messed up by pulling the article. You should take your lumps, feel good that you incited open debate and moved on. Now repost the blog, take even bigger lumps for censorship and move on.

The Horcov article was a comedy/parody post meant to add some levity to this extended offseason. It struck the wrong chord with some and for that I apologize. As the editor of the site it's my responsibility to oversee the content and I didn't appropriately anticipate the reception to some aspects of the post.

I appreciate your perspective Travis. And I don't plan to make a habit of pulling articles. The type of controversy it was stirring + the fact I thought there was other material on the site I didn't want to see overlooked in favor of a needless flame war was why I made the decision.

The Nations will always invite healthy debate, conversation and disagreement. It's what can make comments sections interesting. I had to decide that, this time, however, we weren't well served by letting the argument get out of hand given what else was going on the site and the fact that the article was supposed to be, at best, a fun distraction.

Anyways, it's done. I would appreciate if we could get past it and concentrate on the matter at hand (party!)

I invite anyone who has concerns they would like to express to email me directly so that comment sections aren't derailed by this issue indefinitely. I will try to answer them promptly and to the best of my ability.

The post is gone folks. It was a jokey article that caused more problems than it was worth.

Let's move on shall we? Wanye has a pretty big announcement here that is way more interesting and worth your attention.

Ahhh... not just yet. A joke that was funny and could not be taken seriously by anyone with a functioning brain, censored? I wonder if an apology was issued by Peter Adler for his opinion of Yak and, by extension, Russian hockey players and their character? Far more inflamatory in that it came from MSM, no?

I wonder if any posters here that were offended can step forward and offer an explanation.

There are lots of things worth fighting over and debating about I think. I myself have engaged in endless back-and-forth in comments sections in the past.

This isn't/wasn't worth it. It was a joke. Some people got it, others didn't, some didn't like the tone. It was never meant to be a polemic putting forth or challenging ideas. The sort of attention it gathered was completely at odds with the intention and I didn't think there was much to gain by letting it continue.

The people who objected weren't at fault - they expressed their honest opinions and that's cool. Nor are they at fault for it being pulled. That was my call and I'll stand by it.

The Horcov article was a comedy/parody post meant to add some levity to this extended offseason. It struck the wrong chord with some and for that I apologize. As the editor of the site it's my responsibility to oversee the content and I didn't appropriately anticipate the reception to some aspects of the post.

Conflicted. Always think a party is a good thing. But I really think the best way to get both sides attention is to do nothing. As long as there are protests, petitions, even ongoing coverage both sides know you are still paying attention & will be back in a heartbeat. I know posting this on a hockey website is the opposite of what I just said, but apathy is probably the best & only "weapon" fans have.

Admittedly I am not as hardcore as most on here. But I do sense a shift among the casual fans that I know. Almost no outrage. Not even a lot of talking about it. I truly believe that might lead to a deal more than anything else.

great thing there is no hockey. Got to play nhl 13 over the weekend, now getting to watch 2 baseball playoff games tonight. My first love till the strike in 1994.

Wonder if I go back to baseball and tell the nhl goodbye for a few years..Wonder if the nhl cares..

A few years back there was one great weekend a year where the world series was on, nhl was starting up and the nfl/cfl were playing as well. A sports addict's weekend..now it is common for the month of October and part of November..

The good news is that we live in an era where the English language has never had fewer rules! Verbs, Nouns, Punctuation, it's all up for debate. Just created a word in your latest top 40 hit? No problem, in 5 years its added to the dictionary.

The good news is that we live in an era where the English language has never had fewer rules! Verbs, Nouns, Punctuation, it's all up for debate. Just created a word in your latest top 40 hit? No problem, in 5 years its added to the dictionary.

KrazyKraka187 checking in here. Just wanted to check in. Hmm lets have a look here... Booze (check)... Beavers (check).... Getting drunk and make a foo of my self in front of media (check)... Handing out stickers to play with (check) YUP every thing is a GOGO wonyay. Time to get white gurl wasted. KrazyKraka187 approves this protest.

I blame horcoff for the horcov entry (it's his fault for everything.)
I'm just happy I got to read it before you know what.
I used to check this site religiously for updates. Now oddly I don't really care...
Do what you have to do to keep the masses engaged. What the hell else are we going to do with our time- ps check out the YouTube entry on what won't be heard during the lockout: gold! ( too lazy Nd stupid to link.)
See you when the hockey starts.
Ps I'm bored. Somebody make me a samich too.

The post is gone folks. It was a jokey article that caused more problems than it was worth.

Let's move on shall we? Wanye has a pretty big announcement here that is way more interesting and worth your attention.

The Whiner Terrorists have won. Kent, you removing the post due to a couple of whinny losers without a sense of humor is weak. Political correctness has it's place, just not here. I know you don't want to stir up controversy but being able to lash out at DBs like those who complained about your article is one of the few joys left in these dark days of the lockout. Very disappointing.

Why not re-post the (ooooo!) "offensive" article over at http://www.jeanshortsandbaggedmilk.com/?

Frankly I'm a bit disappointed this site has become the place where a few people get their panties in a bunch and ruin it for most of us who can understand the internet isn't "serious business".

I like sites that have a point of view. If you're really good at something, you almost have to expect not everybody is going to like you.

Whatevs. The more important issue at hand is the Pint Party this Friday. At least there we can all gather around and mock the goodie goodies. I bet the Pint doesn't care if a few people don't like "drinking" and "having fun".